New Brunswick targets timelines in new strategy, minister says

New Brunswick plans to release a new minerals strategy on March 2 at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto ahead of a revised Mining Act this year, the provincial Minister for Natural Resources says.

The province is aiming for consistently quick permitting as an early adopter of a one project, one process framework, Minister John Herron said in an interview this month with The Northern Miner Group. Being environmentally responsible, engaged with First Nations and supportive to communities, is part of the approach, he said.  

“We want to be timely and predictable when it comes to our permitting processes. We want to be the leader in the nation in that particular space,” Herron said. “Getting that equation right really does send a very strong signal to the mining and investment community.”

New Brunswick is advancing Northcliff Resources’ (TSX: NCF; US-OTC: NCFFF) Sisson tungsten project that the federal government fast-tracked to its Major Projects Office in November while Manganese X Energy’s (TSXV: MN) Battery Hill project and Canadian Copper’s (CSE: CCI) Murray Brook copper-zinc project contend for approvals. The province is promoting its 40,000 km in logging roads to access projects and deliver ore through two deep-water ports.

Imminent deal

A deal for Adex Mining’s (TSX: AMG) Mount Pleasant project – the world’s largest undeveloped deposit of the alloy and electronics metal indium – is due imminently with a well-known company in the Canadian mining community, Herron said. The name can’t be revealed yet because the talks are sensitive, he said. Adex has held the site for more than 30 years. It operated as a tungsten mine in the 1980s.

The province is preparing to grant rights this year to restart the Lake George antimony mine which Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) closed in 1996 due to low prices for the defence metal. Officials plan to formalize a process within two months that’s already drawn interest from more than 20 companies, the minister said.

Northcliff, controlled by New Zealand-based Todd Group – Herron said the foreign ownership isn’t a concern for the province or Ottawa – is working on satisfying 40 conditions in an environmental assessment for Sisson. Permitting is in good shape as the company prepares for a final investment decision in January 2027, he said.

“The role with the federal government in terms of elevating the level of importance of that mine really speaks to its role with respect to the G7 on helping with market mechanisms in price floors and buying groups,” he said. “That's really where we're going to be needing the federal muscle and heft to advance that particular project.”

First Nations

Minister Herron, a member of New Brunswick’s Liberal government since 2024 and a former Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2004, stressed how the province’s strategy includes the Wolastoqiyik, Mi'gmaq and Peskotomuhkatiyik.

“Their participation can be through an entire spectrum that could range from capacity building to some form of royalty regime. But I might even argue in certain circumstances that the highest form of accommodation with First Nations will be equity participation.”

Herron’s ministry hired PricewaterhouseCoopers last year to develop the mineral strategy and the government intends to table revisions to the Mining Act this spring. The emphasis is on shortening the permitting timeline.

“When you have certainty, you can attract the sector, and you can attract the capital markets. That's probably the most robust financial instrument that a jurisdiction can provide, from a funding perspective.”